This invention relates to a door lock assembly for fastening a slidable door in a stationary position with respect to its door frame, wherein the handle of the slidable door is engaged with a locking element, and a tongue of the locking element is releasably received in the opening of an elongated socket connector which is pivotally mounted at one of its ends to a mounting plate fastened to the door frame.
Slidable doors of the type that move along a track in a door frame are difficult to lock securely by the type of lock that is housed within the door frame itself. Usually, a latch is pivotally mounted on the movable door and a keeper is mounted in a stationary position within the frame of the door. When the door is moved into its closed position, the latch engages the keeper to lock the door. If the door is to be forced open without having been unlocked, the typical method of forcing the door is to simply insert a crowbar between the door and its frame and wedge the door open. This tends to destroy the latch, keeper and door frame.
Most of the prior art sliding doors are constructed so that the latch mechanism is located internally of the door and its frame, so that it is not apparent whether the latch has engaged its keeper. Therefore, slidable doors have remained unlocked in some instances through accident or mistake because it was not apparent to someone that the latch had not engaged its keeper.